All posts in Hunting Gear

Adding gear and altering the guns feel

I took the dive into the laser sights and laser grips world a  few years ago and I am very happy with the results.   The whole pocket pistol and pock gun thing has actually boasted laser grip sales and it’s very obvious why.  The smaller the gun, the shorter the sight radius and the more likely you are to not really use them.  The Rohrbaugh firearms have guns with sights and without them.   The Ruger LCP practically goes hand in hand with the Crimson trace grip, probable 40% of what we sold has them on them.

The one thing  you have to think about though is the laser grips will not be the Hogue grips you have on your gun now.  The vast majority of the guns I own have Hogue Grips on them and the Crimson Trace laser grips were a trade off.   The laser sights are very nice for that short pistol especially at night and it is a confidence boost, but I did have to adjust my grips slightly.   If you are spending $200 on a laser, make sure you know you want the grips too.

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Rear sights, front sights and all of the other issues with iron sights

I never thought picking out sights for my AR15 would be so hard until I put optics on it.  I started out with a Bushmaster XM15E2 a few decades ago and that was the simplest design.  You had two aperture sights for close up or long distance shots.   The carry hand design would allow you to put an ACOG or other optic on it but this was not a popular way to do this.  Flat tops became more and more popular in the industry because optics became rugged  and durable and even though shooting with iron sights takes great skill, using them as  primary sights, especially in the military makes you limit your firearms abilities.

Many optics are used for identify targets as much as they are for hitting then.  You do have to be careful about what type of sights  you want to put on your firearm because Troy Battle sights are very popular but there are big differences in clearance for fold down front and rear sights.  Gas block mounted sights are lower and if you get fixed sights, you won’t be able to mount magnifiers behind something like and Eotech.  I’ve got iron sights sitting in my house that got about a year of range use and then I picked up a new  optic and the configuration just didn’t work.  The best thing to do is think ahead or just plan on having more than one upper for your AR15 and configure them differently.

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Keeping gun storage and transportation a simple thing

Not everyone is going to need to justify spending $100 on a gun case for every rifle that they own.  Now that I have over 20yrs of experience under my belt in breaking things and wearing them out.   We have been taking on more and more inventory of the Elite Survival Systmes rifle cases and the Cover Operations Gun cases are some of the best high end gun cases for anyone carrying a $2000 rifle and $1200 optic.  The gun case design is outstanding and the foam lining is superior do all of those similar looking gun cases that cost about half as much.

When we take stuff to the range one of the main things we want to do is protect the finish of the firearm.   Secondly depending of the cost of the firearm something as simple as the Bulldog gun cases like the  pistol rug are hot sellers for transporting handguns.  If you have a scoped handgun these  might work for  you also. Some of them for about $10 get the job done don’t take up a  lot of storage space when you are unpacking and putting things away.   Hard cases may protect your firearm better but they can take up more space and make it harder to hang up or stack up.

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Climate changes and and carrying firearms

I’ve been carrying firearms for well over 2 decades and I’ve “been there done that” on most of the typical CCW mistakes.   There’s nothing like getting a nice winter jacket in the middle of the winter, carrying your Beretta 92FS while Christmas shopping using a Fobus or Blackhawk holster, and after 5 minutes of being there, realizing you’re going to sweat to death if you don’t take your jacket off but you can’t because you’re carrying in a paddle holster.   I learned that and realized that for the most part, I probable never would need a winter coat unless I was standing outside all day.   Modern synthetic materials are getting so good that fleece and wool are really going to be a thing of the past.  There trend is that body armor and armor plating will get thinner and lighter, it’s only a matter of time.

We’ve been watching the Vertx, Blackhawk and TruSpec product line for a long time and can see an obvious trend.  This Fall we are working on a TruSpec jackets and outwear promo and there are many cool things we can’t wait to see come in.  Vertx is kind of pricey but really good stuff, we’ve been happy with the Woolrich Elite outwear especially the Twill Jacket.  Unfortunately last year was a  bad year for outwear because of all of the warm weather.  From a retail standpoint, hopefully we get a Fall and Winter Season.

 

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Original Swat Footwear have you heard of them before?

We have been stocking the Original Swat footwear products for almost 3yrs now and have put in 3yrs of running the Atlantic City Police and Security Expo for them.  It’s nice to get positive feedback from customers about a product year after year and this past year was the most successful.  When the customer base grows and they keep coming back, you know you’re doing something right.  These tactical boots keep getting lighter and lighter and it’s always fun to see someones face the first time they pick them up.   The Original Swat style 1232 are my favorite because the air cushion that it has really gives you more support.  I’ve got worn down feet and I can really tell when the sole of a boot or shoe is giving in.
After spending about $20 per month on replacing Doctor Scholls for my feet the costs of having sneakers that were light, but lost support really started to add up.   I picked up a different kind of gel insert that supposedly has a 2yr warranty, but we shall see,  the lightest tactical boots that we have right now are the Original Swat Chase low series.  These are available in Black and Tan.   If you compare this product line to most of what you see at Cabel’s or Dick’s Sporting goods, you’re probable dealing with atleast a 40% lighter boot.  That really means something to a Police Officer or  an Operator.

 

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Firearm deactivation or gun safes?

I grew up in a home where there was no firearm available but my Dad was always very smart about the way he conducted himself in the home.  I’ve actually witnessed my Father defend My Mother and family with his bare hands so I knew he wasn’t a wimp in anyway.   We had timers on lights and when we went away on vacation he knew not to announce it to the public.  Little things like that are just as good as having an alarm system on your home.  The differences between  those two are almost the differences between using cover or concealment in a defensive situation.

When it comes to storing a firearm in  your home that you want to be available for self defense, handguns are easy to put away in a quick access gun safe, but shotguns or rifles are another.  I personally would shy away from a rifle being used in the home because of the volume, but gunvault has the breechvault that you can use on a shotgun if your shotgun is your primary home defense gun.   The Breechvault can deactivate your gun while  you mount it in a closet or other area of the home that only you have a key to and if need be, it’s not tucked away in a gun safe with a dial combination lock that might take 10 seconds or more to open up.

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5.11 bags

Lots of people have been calling about the improved version of the 5.11 Rush 72 backpacks.   There apparently was an improvement to the design that you can view for yourself on Youtube.  Youtube really is a great source of information about products.  I’ve seen some really good reviews from people that just like doing it and great manufacturer rep info.

In the last few years I have purchased a few firearms and instead of looking up the assemble and disassemble specs, I just looked it up on Youtube.   You have to be careful what you see there because it’s not all true, but the 5.11 bags like the Rush 72 Backpacks seem to be getting a lot of noise.  We’ve sold many of them in recent days and I’ll wait for customer response about how much they like them.

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Gun bags and gun cases, a hard sell online?

We’ve had so many people tell us they are glad to see a place like ours in our area because so much of what we carry are things people want to hold in their hands before they buy.  We have chosen the Elite Survival Systems product line as our premier tactical nylon product line and with the majority of the products being made in the USA, it’s been an easy sell to anyone that has never heard of them.  When people tell us they are looking for range bag, they usually have a preference in the size of compartments they need and considering the wide range of firearms out there, some times they are very, very specifici.

When it comes to gun cases, we have heard the same thing over and over again, a guy gets an AR15, and the gun case fits the gun.   The same person puts accessories on his firearm and then it doesn’t fit and then they stop in and pick up the Elite Survival gun cases and gun bags like the Covert Operations Discreet case.   The Elite Tactical Messenger bag has also been a hit with the EMS community.  We have sold many of the Ultimate Sniper Drag Bags to military and civilians and they are some of the best thought out gun cases we have ever sold.

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So many choices and so much good stuff!

Instead of getting a new AR15 upper receiver with a longer or shorter barrel, instead of buying a better quality bolt carrier group or doing some minor tweaking, just change the furniture.    Magpul industries is King of the AR15 accessorizing and the new MOE products really do give you something new to adjust to.   We have a blue rifle that we attach accessories to and let our customer hold them in their hands and try them out.   All gun grips should be customized by the shooter because just like footwear, our feet as well as our  hands come in different sizes, so why would we issue the same size rifle stocks or attachments to a Carbine.

A good operator knows that this is true and each of us has to be able to adjust our accessories to the job that we intend to do with our Carbine.  We have sold a lot of CMMG and Spikes Tactical uppers as well as many of the higher end AR15 uppers like LWRC and Noveske.   There isn’t really much of a difference between these guns as far as reliability, but there gas piston guns are much lower maintenance.  This year Spikes Tactical uppers have been so hard to acquire that many have actually chosen to save up their money and pick up piston driven uppers.  We’ve sold more LWRC M6 uppers this year than ever before.   Stay tuned for the new M6A5 coming out later this summer.

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The modifications can really make it more fun

I think it’s most gun owners fantasy to walk  into a shop and be able to pick things up and try them on before they buy them and that’s one thing that really makes shopping on the internet an easy thing.  Being in the retail business and e-commerce business, we don’t like having to deal with exchanges and returns because it really burns up money.  People think that charging restocking fees is being a dick, but when you give out free shipping and then people tell you they got the wrong part and the same thing happens a dozen times a week, you gotta warn people to put some thought into their shopping.

The way to get around that issue is to got to your dream tactical shop and pick up your magpul gun accessories or stock accessories before you buy.  Just like gun accessories AR15 complete upper receivers are another thing people want to eyeball before buying.  Gun weight and balance is something that each of us has a different tolerance for and preferences.

 

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